Brooks helps Florida grab lead in Allstate Sugar Bowl Intercollegiate

   Reigning Southeastern Conference champion Florida, coming off a solid seventh-place finish in a loaded  Northrop Grumman Regional Challenge field, fired a 5-under-par 283 to grab a one-shot lead over Michigan State in the opening round of the Allstate Sugar Bowl Intercollegiate Sunday at the English Turn Golf & Country Club in New Orleans.

   The Gators, No. 14 in the latest Golfstat rankings, were one of the eight teams that reached match play in the NCAA Championship last spring, but several players from that roster are now playing professionally. But they also got a pretty nice addition when Sierra Brooks, the runnerup in the 2015 U.S. Women’s Amateur and a member of the 2016 U.S. Curtis Cup team, joined the program and was cleared to play this spring.

   I gave Brooks, a sophomore from Orlando, Fla., a shout-out for her solid showing in the Northrop Grumman in my final post from that event last week if you want to get a little more detail on her journey from Wake Forest in the fall of 2016 to Florida in February of 2018, but suffice it to say, the former junior standout did not forget how to play golf.

   Brooks’ 3-under 69 over the 6,239-yard, par-72 was the low round of the day for Florida and left her tied  for third in the individual standings.

   Reigning Big Ten champion Michigan State, ranked 11^th, is a shot behind Florida at 4-under 284. The Spartans are coming off a solid runnerup finish to South Carolina in the Florida State Match-Up.

   Brynn Walker, a two-time PIAA Class AAA champion at Radnor, and North Carolina, somehow ranked 40^th, are in third place at 4-over 292, eight shots behind Michigan State. No. 12 Southern California, one of the three Pac-12 teams that reached the semifinals in last spring’s NCAA Championship, is another shot behind the Tar Heels in fourth at 5-over 293.

   No. 35 North Carolina State – a ranking that deservedly moved higher after the Wolfpack’s fourth-place finish in last week’s Lady Puerto Rico Classic – and No. 84 UCF are tied for fifth at 6-over 294. And No. 25 Miami is another shot back in seventh in the 17-team field at 7-over 295.

   Backing up Brooks for Florida is Marta Perez, a sophomore from Spain who was in the lineup for the Gators when they dusted the SEC Championship field by 13 shots last spring. Perez is one of four players tied for fifth in the individual standings at 2-under 70.

   Florida veteran Taylor Tomlinson, a senior from Gainesville, Fla., is tied for ninth, another shot behind Perez in a group tied for ninth at 1-under 71. Addie Baggarly, a freshman from Jonesborough, Tenn., was the final counter for the Gators as her 1-over 73 left her in a group tied for 20^th at 1-over 73.

   The Gators also brought along Elin Esborn, a redshirt freshman from Sweden, to compete as an individual and all she did was shoot at 1-under 71 to join her teammate Tomlinson in the group tied for ninth.

   The individual lead belongs to UCF’s Kaeli Jones, a senior from Sumterville, Fla. who blitzed the English Turn layout to the tune of a 6-under 66. Jones finished tied for third on her home course in the UCF Challenge earlier this month.

   Michigan State’s Allyson Geer, a sophomore from Brighton, Mich., is a shot back in second at 5-under 67.

   Joining Florida’s Brooks in the tie for third at 3-under 69 is N.C. State’s Cecily Overbey, a senior from High Point, N.C.

   Among the players joining Florida’s Perez in the group tied for fifth at 2-under 70 is the other half of Michigan State’s powerful 1-2 punch at the top of its lineup along with Geer, Sarah Burnham, a senior from Maple Grove, Minn.

   Rounding out that foursome tied for fifth at 2-under 70 are a pair of Southern California players, Alisen Corpuz, a sophomore from Honolulu, Hawaii, and Jennifer Chang, a freshman from Cary, N.C. The Trojans lost their top player during the midseason break when Robynn Ree, a junior from Redondo Beach, Calif. who finished tied for fifth in the final stage of Qualifying School and is now a full-fledged member of the LPGA Tour. But with a program like Southern Cal’s, that just means an opportunity for another strong player to step in and prove herself.

   North Carolina's Walker opened the spring portion of her sophomore season with a solid even-par 72 that left her in a group tied for 16^th. She shared team medalist honors with Ava Bergner, a freshman from Germany who was North Carolina’s best player during a solid first half of the season last fall for the Tar Heels.

   Bryana Nguyen, a senior from Columbia, Md., is in the group tied for 20^th after a 1-over 73. Kelly Whaley, a junior from Farmington, Conn., was the final counter for the North Carolina with a 3-over 75 that left her in a group tied for 35^th. Rounding out the North Carolina lineup was Mariana Ocano, a sophomore from St. Petersburg, Fla. who carded an 80 and is tied for 77^th.